Abstract
The paper discusses the benefits of labelling. Labels or diagnoses are usually applied in order to denote specific characteristics of individuals. The work discusses the psychiatric disorders and the advantages of their labelling.
Keywords: labelling, mental disorder
Advantages to Labelling
While discussing the advantages of labelling, it should be stated that labels or diagnoses are usually applied in order to denote specific characteristics of individuals. Unfortunately, some people are born with mental or developmental disorders, due to chromosomal or genetic abnormalities. After the medical investigation, doctors give those people the diagnoses or labels, which show the nature of their disorder. In such cases, labelling can bring a number of advantages.
1. The label helps mentally challenged people to feel a relief. The matter is that without acquisition of a diagnosis a number of people, who suffer from various psychiatric disorders, consider themselves to be different from others. Labelling helps them to understand the reason of this difference, and start perceiving themselves from another side. The identification of a diagnosis reduces stress and ambiguity. When the cause of disorder and treatment become understandable a person stops puzzling. For example, people, who suffer from autism, experience poor peer relations and social skills. Knowledge of the diagnosis might help them to understand the reason for it, and change their attitude towards this problem.
Another example that is worth mentioning is dyslexia. This disorder is characterized by difficulties in phonological working, speed of processing information, verbal working, and naming ability. Children with dyslexia experience learning problems. The inability to sound-correspondence rules usually results in difficulties in reading, writing, and even spelling. It might be stated that the label helps those children to find an explanation for their problems. Moreover, they stop feeling themselves stupid, and start understanding that, all the mentioned above difficulties, are just the adverse effects of their illness.
2. The identification of patient’s label helps the medical professionals to communicate with each other, and understand the focus for assessment. The matter is that a label conveys a large amount of information. For instance, when the medical professionals hear the term ‘fragile X syndrome’, they understand that it is one of the most common causes of developmental disabilities. The label assists them to analyze the case better, and think about the best treatment for the patient. Another thing to be pointed out is that the label ‘fragile X syndrome’ hint the clinicians that they should conduct the autism screening. It is not a secret that 50-90% of individuals with fragile-X also suffer from at least one core characteristic of autism. In this case, the label helps the doctor to understand the area of investigation. In other words, it provides him with a right treatment direction.
Medical workers evaluate the label, and, as a result of it, try to develop more efficient treatment strategies. Labels reduce ambiguities. Besides, they help to lay a foundation for new theoretical and practical researches that might advance the existing knowledge about the illness, its course, symptoms, and treatment.
3. Label identification …